Skein-twisting machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. L. DIMOOK SKBIN TWISTING MACHINE.

Patented Aug. 23, 1892.

WITNESSES.-

lNVENTOf? Tu: NORms r'lYsnS co. PNOYD-UTML, wAsn (No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. DIMOGK. SKBIN TWISTING MACHINE.

Patented Aug. 23, 1892.

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lNVE/VTOH ATTORNEY WITNESSES: MW

NITED STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

LUCIUS DIMOOK, OF LEEDS, MASSACHUSETTS.

SKElN-TWISTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 481,227, dated August23, 1892.

Application filed February 13, 1892. Serial No. 421,438. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUOIUS DIMOOK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Leeds, in the county of Hampshire and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Skein-Twisting Machine, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My improvements relate generally, in the first part, to the combination,with a pair of rotating hooks for holding the end of a skein, a fingerfor holding the skein distended by its center while its ends are beingtwisted by the hooks, and means for rotating the hooks while the ends ofthe skein are held by both hooks and for reversing the rotation of thehook holding both ends of the skein, of mech anism for switching oneloop end of the skein from one hook to the other; and the second partrelates to mechanism for simultaneously operating more than one set ofskein-twistin g hooks.

The improvements have for their object an increased facility in thetwisting of skeins.

My invention consists in the combination and arrangement ashereinafterdescribed,and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inWhich Figure I is a front elevation,in partial section, of my improvedmachine. Fig. II is a top plan view in partial section. Fig. III isabottom plan view in reverse of Fig. II. Fig. IV is a side elevation ofone finger. Fig. V is a detail view. Fig. VI is a full-size top planview of a pair of hooks and a switchcarrier. Fig. VII is a detail inpartial section,and Fig. VIII is a full-size view of a portion of askein secured after removal from the machine.

The twisted skein has many advantages as a form for putting upmanufactured filaments of various kinds.

My improvements in machinery for twisting skeins are as follows:

Ais abed-plate adapted to be secured above the floor of the room to bein convenient reach of the operative and shown in the drawings,

A to give room to dependent portions therefrom.

Beneath the bedplate A and journaled thereto is a driving-gear O.Beneath the gear 0 and upon its prolonged arbor c is a drivingp'ulley D,having secured to it cords E E, the opposite ends of which, passing overpulleys F F to obtain a change of direction, are severally secured totreadles G G, and the pulley, cords, and treadles are so proportionedthat one treadle will be up while the other is down and so that thedownward movement of each treadle will, through the cords and pulley D,give a rotation to gear 0 in opposite directions.

J ournaled in the bed-plate A and geared to the driving-gear O is apinion H, and geared to the pinion II are two spur-gears I, having theirjournals also in plate A. The arbors of spurs I are extended above thebed-plate and are provided with hooks J K, adapted to have the oppositeloop ends of a skein caught over them.

From the bed-plate A is a standard L, supporting upon an arm M therefroma spring finger N, whose free end is arranged to come vertically overthe hooks J K and is adapted to hold the center of the skein IV andsupport it while the ends are looped over the hooks J K. The armM,bearing the finger N, is adjustable upon the standard to suitdifferent lengths of skein, and the spring-finger N accommodates itselfto the shortening of the skein in twisting.

Coincident with the axis of pinion H and in consequence in the center ofa circle of which the axes of spurs I I are upon the periphery is a stemP, provided with a horizontal hook Q, adapted to swing upon the rotationof its stem over the tops of the hooks and when they are in a certainposition switch the loop of the skein from one hook and carry it to theother. The stem P is prolonged below the bed-plate A and is securedaxially to a pulley R, bearing a belt S, fastened at one end to it. Thepulley is connected by a coilspring t to a fixed part 1' from thebed-plate, so as to rotate against said spring. The belt S, having oneend secured to pulley R, has its other end attached to the end of an armT from a rock-shaft U. The rock-shaft U, journaled in the bed-plate Aand having arm T below the plate, has a handle V above the plateattached to its upper end,and it will be seen that by swinging thehandle V the switchcarrier Q will be operated.

The general operation of the machine is as follows: The skein thrownover the finger has its ends brought over the hooks. One treadle isoperated to give a rotation to gear C, which in said rotation multipliesthe rotation of hooksJKin unison toimpart the required twist in onedirection to the skein \V. The switchcarrier Q is reciprocated to leaveboth ends of the skein upon hook J, at which time the other treadle isdepressed to reverse the retation of gear C, and with it the rotation ofhook J, to thereby complete the twisting of a skein, which is thenremoved from the finger N and hook J, being from the configuration ofthe hook adapted to receive through its loop end a tag X for securingit. Such being the general operation of the machine, the details ofconstruction of the parts to insure its perfect operation and accurateworking are as follows: To cause the rotation of gear 0 to cease at apoint which will bring the hooks J K in the most favorable position forhaving the loop ends of the skein caught over them and in the properposition for having the loop end of one switched to the other, I arrangeupon the inner face of the bed-plate A a downward-projecting stop (Z,adapted to intercept one spoke of gear (J, having a lug c raised fromit. This stop (in ellect two stops) for receiving the opposite sides ofthe spoke-bearing lug c is made distensible, so that the number oftwists given the skein may be varied by limiting the rotation of gear 0,care being taken in setting the stop to arrange it to bring the hookswith their months in the proper position. The stop ends are in the formof abutments having cushionsf of rubber or other suitable material tosoften the shock of the blows from the lug c, as seen in Fig. III. Thearbors of spurs I are stems 2', which, as shown in Fig. I, pass upthrough uprights n, integral with the bed-plate A, to be secured to thehooks J K, whose shoulders rest upon said uprights. The pinion II isjournaled upon a sleeve h and rests upon a collar '1 upon said sleeve.The sleeve 7L above the bed-plate is outwardly threaded, and a nut is,screwed against the bed-plate, holds said sleeve 7b in place and thepinion journaled thereupon. The stem P passes through sleeve 7b to havethe pulley R fixed to its lower end, and intermediate to pulley R andhaving its ends secured, respectively, to pulley R and collar r is thecoil-spring 2f, surrounding stem P, but in immediate contact with ablank sleeve u for preserving its proper form. The pulley R is shownattached to stemP by corresponding cone surfaces drawn together by a nutupon the threaded end of the stem P, by means of which connection thepulley may be set to tighten the spring and take up slack in belt Thebelt S, having one end secured to the pulley after passing over it, hasthe other end made fast to the arm T.

lVhen the switch-carrier Q and handle V are in their normal position, asshown in Figs. 1, II, and III, such position is determined by a stop Y,consisting of a rod pendent from the bed-plate and secured thereto andagainst which the spring t bears the end of arm T, so that uponoperating the switch-carrier the handle V is simply released to permitthe spring to complete the reciprocation ot' the switch-carrier andleave it and the handle in their normal position.

The efficiency of the hooks J K, both independently andin conjunctionwith the switchcarrier Q, depends in a large measure upon their peculiarconfiguration. To cause them to better hold the loop ends of the skein,they are swelled, as shown in side profile view in Fig. I, to preventthe loop resting against their closed ends from escaping horizontallywithout overcoming an opposing surface, and in top plan view one side isshown swelled from the seat of the loop to oppose resistance to anescape in a vertical plane. They are also made wide as a former to theloop to leave it distended to receive the securing-tag X, as shown inFig. VIII, which finishes the skein for packing and is in practice adistinguishing trade-mark or label. To co-operate more perfectly withthe switch -carrier Q, they are pointed,as shown in top plan View, withcurved edges to permit the loop to both leave the hook and be receivedon it in an easy manner, and the points lie in a line coincident to thedirection of movement of the switch-carrier. The switch-carrier has onepart wedge-shaped in both horizontal and vertical cross-section, as seenin Fig. VI, for entering the loops upon the hooks and shoulders at thehorizontal base of this wedge to take a loop with it in its forwardmovement. The lower surface of the carrier is almost in contact with thepointed ends of the hooks when above them, and the wedge-shaped part ofthe carrier being of equal width at its base with the hooks, the loop istaken from one hook and easily carried past the horizontal and verticalswell of the other hook to be securely seated therein.

In Fig. VI the carrier is shown in the act of switching one loop andbefore it has completed the operation.

The finger N consists of a spring-band 91', secured at one end to asocket-piece 0, bent upon itself to pass under a bar 12 upon an arm gfrom the socket-piece, and prolonged to terminate in the finger proper,adapted to hold the skein thrown over it and arranged to come verticallyover the hooks J K and half-way between them, and it will be seen thatthe finger, while exerting a tension to hold the skein in the hooks,will give to compensate for the shortening of the skein in twisting. Asthe vertical strain of the skein upon the finger changes after bothloops are upon one hook, I adapt the finger to turn to atrue verticalposition above hook J by providing it with a stem 1;, arranged in asocket. A shoulder of the stem rests above the socket, and a pin w,pendent from this shoulder, plays in a slot 0c in the top of the socket,as seen in Fig. I, by means of which the rotation of the finger islimited to a movement from its first position to one over the hookholding both loop ends of the skein.

I combine two sets of twisting-hooks with the driving mechanism andswitch-carrying mechanism, by means of which the capacity of a machineis nearly doubled with one 0perative, which is due principally to thesimultaneous switching of the loop ends from two hooks and as follows:The duplicate pinions II II are arranged upon the periphery of gear C tobring the centers of the duplicate spurs in a straight line, and withthem the hooks J K J K, as more particularly shown in Fig. II, and uponthe standard L, arranged upon the bed-plate at an equal distance fromthe two sets of hooks, is a cross-head having the arms M M for bearingduplicate springfingers N N, the cross-head, as seen in Fig. II, havinga set-screw on through its sleeve to clamp the standard at the point atwhich the cross-head is adjusted.

The pulley R and belt S are identical with pulley R and belt S and arearranged as reverse counterparts to have the ends of the bolts joined tothe end of lever-arm T, which makes a convenient way of coupling anadditional switch-carrier with the operating mechanism of the first, asit will be seen that the swinging of the lever-handle V willsimultaneously advance both carriers and that upon the release of thehandle one or both springs complete the reciprocation of the carriers inrestoring them to their first position.

The pulleys R R and belts S S shown in partial section in Fig. I areshown complete in the same position in Fig. V.

Now,having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination,with a pair of rotating skein-twisting hooks and with mechanism forrotating and stopping them in a determined position, of a switch-carrieradapted to enter the loop of a skein upon one hook from the rear of saidhook when the two hooks are at rest with their mouths opposite andtransfer said loop to the other hook and means, substantially as shownand described, for recip rocating the switch-carrier.

2. The combination, with a pair of rotating skein-twisting hooks andwith mechanism for rotating and stopping them in a determined position,of a switch-carrier device consisting of a rotating carrier pivoted, asshown and described, to rotate over the hooks and transfer the loop ofthe skein from one hook to the other, and arock-shaft journaled in itsframe and provided with a handle and lever-arm, and belt and pulleyconnecting the arm with the spindle of the switch-carrier, whereby thereciprocation of the carrier is effected upon the rotation of thehandle.

3. The combination of a pair of skeintwisting hooks adapted to distendthe loop end of a skein, leaving them for the purpose described, meansfor rotating and stopping them in the required position, and areciprocating switch-carrier for transferring a loop end of the skeinfrom one hook to the other.

4. The combination, with skein -twisting hooks of the characterdescribed, of a switchcarrier having its end in the form, as shown anddescribed, of a wedge or cone provided with shoulders at its base andadapted thereby to enter a loop upon a hook and take said looptherefrom.

. LUOIUS DIMOCK.

Witnesses:

R. F. HYDE, JASON PERKINS:

